Arkenfox is simply a set of configuration you can (and should) apply yourself onto a clean Firefox installation.

A fork means taking the source code and modifying it directly, not providing an alternative configuration file.

Arkenfox is not a fork FYI

Hosting data yourself wouldn’t be required, but it would become an option.

You’d have the option of leaving your identity on your home server, or a separate domain/website, or host your data and identity but use another instance to federate.

Though, designing UX for this will be an interesting challenge.

I think Whoogle does that?

Sorry for the late reply, that shadow is present in most launchers as a default option to create contrast between the wallpaper and status icons.

Things like Nova Launcher and Lawnchair have options to disable it.

Awesome to see that Sony development is still kicking <3

use Tor Browser.

If your concern is fingerprinting, that is undeniably the best there is out of the box.

If you want Tor Browser without having to use the Tor Network, Mullvad is basically just that; Tor Browser without the Network.

What exactly does Google have left that people like? Gmail?

Nope, not GMail either, even GMail has ads now.

I’d love to slap LineageOS on a modern sony

Loved their devices back then, especially because they offer an extended range of updates specifically for developing on-top of AOSP, even including (Major) Kernel Updates

That on a modern device? Count me in

is this everywhere on the device?

I’ve had success with this before for unlocking :)

https://www.xiaomitool.com/V2/

SimpleX is quite a promising project, uses Double Ratchet End-to-End-Encryption (from Signal), and has a very interesting protocol and model to provide quite strong metadata protection, especially in regards to whom you talk to and groups you’re in.

If your threat model requires exceptionally strong Metadata protection, SimpleX is probably going to be your go-to

Though, for a more lenient threat model, where still good, but less laser-focused metadata protection is enough, Signal will probably do just fine.

Personally I use Signal, but I also have a SimpleX Profile, an XMPP Account and Matrix. (preferred in that order)

The “NO AI” clause is conditional, though.

As mentioned in their FAQ, they will reverse that rule when it is “viable in terms of data privacy and ethicality”

unless the rampant ethical and data privacy issues around datasets are resolved via regulation.

Whilst they aren’t VC-Backed, their servers already had to do nearly 10 upgrades, their “AI Detection” is backed by another, third-party AI, and it’s not transparent what said service is.

And to top it off, it’s a closed ecosystem. You upload your art there, and either Cara dies one day and your following is gone, or they change their policies, leadership or anything else, at which point everyone will have to move again

it’s yet another case where the Fediverse and other Federated networks address the core issue that lead to this disaster - content ownership - better than systems like these do. I’m not hopeful for Cara.

Yes, they self-implemented that.

So unlike Heliboard, you don’t need to import Google’s Swypelibs.

Its great, same as their standalone Speech-To-Text Application.

Just FYI, Heliboard (continuation of OpenBoard) has all of the above. Just note that you’ll need to import Google’s Swype library once to use Swipe-To-Type.

Syncthing does have an Android app, but I’ve never looked into doing anything syncthing-related on iOS because I simply don’t have any iOS devices :/

Maybe you’re interested in the latest testing versions of Lawnchair?

They’re completely rebased it on modern versions of the Stock Android launcher, and they do support the Google feed on the left, the searchbar, things like PixelSearch and more, as well as customizing the experience to your liking

it is not on-par in features with old versions of Lawnchair 2 yet, but for being a complete remake from scratch I find it quite remarkable

There are ways to do indefinite edits using message relationships

The edit message would simply refer to the message to be edited and contain the new content, or a delta/diff of the content. This would not need to be shown to the user in the UI

The reason it’s this fucked up is probably more because it’s yet another Google-Specific extension on top of RCS if I had to make a guess.

I’ve resorted to just syncing my fault folder using Syncthing externally, surprisingly convenient